Abstract The study of classic Maya texts shows that, for the Ancient Mayas, time was composed of both cyclical and linear components. The act of founding can therefore not be understood unless this specific feature of the Maya calendars is taken into account. This work, based on the study of steles and the ritual deposits placed during the building of new monuments, shows that the actions of temporal foundation implied a great amount of care. They were also of huge political importance. These rituals involved complex calculations and were therefore the privilege of the elite. The acts of spatial foundation, however, were shared more broadly throughout society and seemed to symbolize a reproduction of the world in miniature, repeated for each architectural change. In all cases, the idea seems to be the same, whether for temporal or spatial foundations: in order to ensure its replacement, the opening of a cycle appears to have been as important as its closure. Keywords: Maya, deposits, calendar, ritual, foundation, cycle, abandonment, Classic period, linear time, cyclical time.